As a coordinator for an outdoor preschool, Eya Lazaro helps families of color find greenspaces across the Puget Sound for their young children to safely learn, explore, and play in nature. But in South King County, finding parks that families live near or can access is challenging.
According to an open space disparities map, at least eight cities south of the Seattle limits lack open space in communities that are low-income and who experience high hospitalization rates for asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. The most racially and ethnically diverse populations of South King County are concentrated in this same area.
“One of the things in Tiny Trees that we are mindful about when we’re opening up new classrooms is the communities we are in, and how we can be more accessible to them. We had a classroom in Federal Way that we had to close, because it wasn’t very accessible or known to families,” Lazaro said. “Communities of color are three times more likely to not have access to greenspaces. And that’s because of systemic racism.”
To show just how wide the gap is for her preschool’s families, Lazaro recorded a video of herself taking the bus and walking from central Seattle to the beach at Seahurst Park – one of her classrooms in Burien. It took her three hours round-trip.
Federal funding through the Outdoors for All Act (OFA) would address both greenspace deficiencies and park access inequities.
